On the road, in Lynchburg, birthday time and wondering

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

After a long work week, yes only two "days" I zipped out of Durham at four thirty this afternoon, the day before my birthday, two days before Thanksgiving and headed northwest to Lynchburg, VA. Lynchburg is where my brother lives. Sadly, right now I am in Lynchburg, in a Hilton Hotel, in a lovely room, but again I say sadly, I won't see my brother.

Dan and his family have moved. All contact between the children and me and my folks severed. They haven't told us where they've gone, truthfully, when I contacted my brother and told him that I'd be here, I didn't ask where he was going, where he was moving. I felt if he wanted me to know, that he'd tell me. I came to town a few weeks ago to see Julian, my nephew, and I saw a for rent sign in my brother's yard. That day I did see Dan too, I waived at him, smiled big, and got nothing. No acknowledgement, no nod, no smile not a thing. This after several emails and letters asking for conversation and healing. He's mad, they moved and clearly after months of deafening silence and no direct conversation it is pretty clear that we are divorced. Who knows if and when the rift will mend?

There have been attempts in the last several months at round about communication; maybe that's what it was. My brother's wife's best friend wrote me a long missive extolling my brother's wife's virtues. She has many virtues and I certainly didn't need some stranger telling me what I should percieve as stong points or character traits. I do have two eyes, two ears and a mind that functions fairly well. Well no matter, I guess everyone needs an advocate if they feel that they don't have a voice or the courage to use it. The advocacy didn't work too well primarily because my wish is for all of us; my brother, his wife, my parents and me; to sit down together and have logical, tempered, reasoned conversation. That apparently isn't going to happen anytime soon.

So, to Dan, my brother, know this; we pray for you and your family by name every day. We find comfort throughout the Bible and when you find a place in your heart to seek to forgive and accept forgiveness, you will be welcomed with Thanksgiving.

Islamism

I have been struggling with how to reconcile my feelings on Islam and Islamism. This week it finally clicked when I read a very enlightened article describing the difference. Islam is a religion and radical Islamism is a geo-political movement with radical, dangerous and irreconcilable differences with western belief and philosophy. Radical Islamism calls for the destruction of western thought, culture and belief.

Whew, now I can find some solid ground to stand on. I can pray for my Muslim friends, their well being, salvation, health and so on. I cannot however pray for a political system of beliefs which at its heart I believe is evil, violent and dangerous. One can even point to quantifiable empirical data and events that point to such beliefs and actions.

I can now breath a bit easier knowing that I am hopefully not crucifying people for their religious beliefs but rather holding certain people accountable for their political beliefs. Those being the destruction of western civilization, Israel and a pan Islamic state that stretches from China to Rome. This is also a fundamental movement that moves far afield from the tenants of the Muslim faith ergo a huge difference.